Yahhо̄is a cute way to say hello in Japanese that tends to be linguistically feminine. There are a few theories about its origins. While it does sound like the greeting “yoo-hoo!” in English, the predominant theory is that it comes from theGerman wordjohoo, which is historically use...
Uramaki is the Japanese word for inside-out rolls. They are a little more difficult to make than maki rolls are. These are very similar to maki rolls, only with the rice on the outside instead of inside the nori. There are many types of popular uramaki rolls, several of which will be...
This reminds me thatDerek Guy‘s thread on why Tokyo is so fashionable blew up this month. I’m not sure I’m 100% convinced by the argument. I do feel like the average Japanese (even the average Tokyoite) is about as fashionable as the average American (which is to say that we’r...
it’s still not the level of bread I love from Japan so I’m going to be doing some more experimenting. Please let me know in the comments if you have any favorite Japanese shokupan recipes, I’m always up for trying new ones!
Update: I've updated this post substantially in these two articles, 10 years later: How to cook great Japanese style rice, and How to make sushi rice (shari). Please take a look there - you'll probably find them a lot clearer. I've learned a lot myself i
Knowing how to read and say the hiragana and katakana letters will tremendously improve your pronunciation from the start. Romaji (Japanese words spelled with English letters) might help you learn basic words like “hello,” but it will get in the way of your speaking skills if you start to...
Check out the link to the eventhereto register. How to Translate Posted onApril 25, 2020 I have a guest post over at “What can I do with a B.A. in Japanese Studies?” (which I’ll always think of in my mind as Shinpai Deshou, the site’s url): “Writing into a Career: Lea...
In Japanese, a "first name" doesn't come first. The family name comes first, followed by the first name (or "given name" to avoid confusion). The family name is called 名字みょうじ, and given name is 下したの 名前なまえ, literally meaning "bottom name." We call the given name ...
If you keep the last point in mind, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t watch anime to complement your Japanese studies. Here are a few reasons why you shouldlearn Japanese with anime. Fun and relaxing passive learning tool When you watch anime, you’ll inevitably pick up some Japanese...
In the West, Shogi is sometimes called "Japanese chess." It was invented around the same time -- the oldest known pieces were found in a temple built in Horyuji in the 7th century A.D. But it developed separately from the version of chess that became popular in Europe. ...